Australian Capital Territory Maps

Greater Canberra Surrounds - With Maps

Within a short drive of the the Canberra city centre, you will find plenty of things to see and do. The surrounds of Canberra hosts vineyards with cellar doors, a working sheep farm that you can visit, wildlife reserves and the stunning national parks of the ACT, including Namadgi.

Places to Visit

Vineyards in the Canberra Surrounds

In the ACT, there are some 140 vineyards located within thirty minutes drive. The cooler temperatures of the surrounding Canberra area make for great rieslings and pinot gris, as well as viognier, amongst others. Thirty of the wine growers have cellar door sales.

Aboriginal Culture

Evidence has been found that Aboriginals inhabited this region more than 21,000 years ago including before and during the last ice age. Sites remain that show how Aboriginals lived during this time, campsites with bone fragments, rock art sites, quarries where tools were made and sacred sites marked with stone.

Honeysuckle Creek

From the 1960s to the 1980s, there were Space tracking stations located at Honeysuckle Creek, the first images of Neil Armstrong walking on the moon were received here. Although the huge tracking dish is now gone, there are remnants of the station still there as are signs about the Apollo missions.

There is a campground near the site, good for larger groups and families. Not far from there is the Australian Alps Walking Track which can take you to Mount Tennent in the north.

Adjoining the park is the Kosciuszko National Park in the Snowy Mountains to the south. Both the Bimberi and Scabby Range nature reserves, along with Brindabella National Park lie to the the north-east. During the winter, you can get chances to play in the snow and go on a ski tour, during the rest of the year, wilderness hiking and camping.

Namadgi National Park

Namadgi National Park, covering some 1.6 million hectares of alpine region in New South Wales, Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory, has a diverse range of natural environments. Located close to the city of Canberra.

Lanyon

Lanyon is a working sheep farm, located some 30kms south from Canberra. There, they have exhibits relating to the Aboriginals of the area, dating back thousands of years. There are buildings from the early days of European settlement, a restored homestead built in 1859 and farm buildings from the 20th Century. Phone +061 2 6235 5677 for more information.

Australian Institute of Sport

Located in the suburb of Bruce, ACT, you can join guided tours at the Australian Institute of Sport. An elite athlete acts as the guide, and will show you many of the world class facilities used to train Australia’s best athletes, you may even get a chance to see them train.

On tour, you also get to visit the Sportex exhibit - here, you can try the virtual interactive exhibits, testing your skills at virtual football, cycling, wheelchair basketball and rock climbing. You can even match try your golfing skills against world champions. Phone +061 2 6214 1010 for further information and tour details:

Australian Reptile Centre

At Gold Creek Village on the Barton Highway you can see everything to do with reptiles, including prehistoric ones. They have a wonderful collection of snakes, including Taipans and Death Adders. Deadly but beautiful. Phone +061 2 6253 8533.

Mt Stromlo Observatory

You can take a self guided tour of this space facility, it researches the very beginning of our known universe. About 20 minutes drive from the centre of Canberra, it is located just off Cotter Rd.

Canberra Deep Space Complex

Part of NASA’s Deep Space Network, the Canberra Deep Space Complex plays a key role to help in man’s understanding of space. It helps communicate with robotic spacecraft throughout the solar system, including receiving the latest images from Mars and is the largest antenna complex found in the southern hemisphere. Open daily from 9am to 5pm, Phone +061 2 6201 7880.

The National Dinosaur Museum

The National Dinosaur Museum has 23 complete skeletons on display as well as hundreds of individual fossils, a journey through time. See more about the National Dinosaur Museum.